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Water was thrown over two women standing outside a mosque in an apparent fake acid attack police are treating as racially aggravated assault.

Recent acid attacks have led to calls for tougher controls on corrosive substances, while Home Secretary Amber Rudd has suggested acid attack convictions could soon carry life sentences. A Home Office review will examine the law enforcement and criminal justice response, existing laws, access to harmful products and the support available for victims.

The women, who were wearing traditional head coverings, were attacked as they waited outside the Bashir Ahmed Masjid in Southampton on Tuesday. CCTV footage shows a black car slowing down next to them before speeding away. The pair react in horror before realising they are unhurt.

The mosque, in the southern city's Portswood district, has been forced to issue a safety warning to worshippers.

Police described the women as "understandably shaken" while on Facebook the mosque shared their fears that a subsequent attack could involve acid. It follows a string of acid attacks, including five committed inside 90 minutes in London last week.

A message the mosque said came from one of the women read: "Sisters just to warn you to be careful when u are out and about, you all know about the recent acid attacks in London.

"Today my friend and I were standing outside Bashir Masjid in Portswood, waiting to be picked up when a group of men in a black car drove past us and threw water at us. We are both OK because it was only water, but if they get away with doing stuff like this then it could embolden them to next time use bleach or acid."

The attack resulted in the nurse suffering a two-inch cut to her nose and a large bruise on her neck.

Stoke Sentinel reported that Judge Paul Glenn said: “You took the headscarf and pulled it around her neck and when she defended herself you punched her in the face.

”She ran to her brother’s house – she was upset, crying, and shaken up.

“I have also watched some footage and one wouldn’t like to be a police officer dealing with the likes of you.

“She’s a nurse and a carer and was on her way out to care for a lady.”

Prosecutor Caroline Harris stated that four men were involved in the attack.

The victim told the men that she would call her son when they started verbally abusing her, but one of the perpetrators snatched her phone and put it on a car.
Hammersley then ripped her hijab off and tied it around her neck before punching her.

As she screamed for help, three of the men ran away.

When her nephew came out she ran into her brother’s house.

Hammersley’s lawyer, Robert Smith, said that his client had been leading a “chaotic lifestyle” and was “relying on the goodwill” of friends and family for money, food and accommodation.

He said he had been living with his partner and had a full-time job since March but has 29 previous convictions.

Muslim doctor 'warned that she might be arrested' after reporting Islamophobic abuse in Romford

A Seven Kings doctor has spoken of her horror after she was told by police a man who hurled Islamophobic abuse at her would likely only receive a warning.

11 September 2017

Dr Naila Imran says officers also warned her against pressing charges, as a counter claim could lead to her "being arrested".

On Thursday the 41-year-old was driving from Brentwood to Seven Kings along A12, when a motorcyclist knocked off her wing mirror as he moved past her at the junction with Pettits Lane, Romford.

He cut through a set of red lights, but she eventually caught up with him at the next traffic lights, and wound down her window to speak to him.

"I said to him 'you have damaged my car'", she told the Recorder.

"He didn't say anything and then suddenly started yelling'I'm a Paki, I'm a Muslim terrorist, I should go back to my country', he wouldn't stop swearing."

The mum-of-two, who wears a headscarf, said she became "scared for her life".

"I pulled up my window, locked the car doors and began to phone the police, and he started just kicking my car while abusing me."

Eventually the man drove off and Naila managed to write down his number plate.

She said she is now afraid to go out, and the police response has disappointed her.

"They came over on Friday, and said I should have waited at the scene and found witnesses. I was terrified after what had happened, I wasn't thinking about that."

Naila says despite her noting down the man's number plate, police said that the most likely thing that would happen was that he would get a warning.

And she claims they warned her against pressing charges, "as if he makes a counter claim against me, I might be arrested".

Naila said she feels this lets Islamaphobes feel like they can get away with abusing Muslims.

"I have lived here for the last 16 years, I'm a doctor, I've educated my daughter and son here, I volunteered at the London Olympics, I help people in the community learn English.

"This is not how I should be treated."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that no further action was being taken.

He said: "Police received an allegation of racial abuse that took place on the A12 Eastern Avenue, Romford at around 3.10pm on Thursday September 7. The female victim was driving her car along the A12. As she turned right into North Street, Romford a motorcyclist clipped her wing mirror. When the victim stopped next to the motorcycle in traffic and confronted the male rider about clipping her car, she was subjected to racially abusive verbal comments. The motorcyclist then rode away. Having conducted initial enquiries, police have informed the victim that no further action will be taken due to there being insufficient evidence to proceed."

White Terrorist set his dog on Muslims and ordered it to bite them during 'campaign of racism'

Jakub Wendland, who denies being a racist, has been sent to prison after appearing at Manchester Crown Court

by Andrew Bardsley - 11 Sep 2017

A man who set his dog on two Muslims during a 'campaign of racism' has been caged.

Jakub Wendland's cross breedbull terrier bit a man and left a woman traumatised.

During one of the attacks, the 32-year-old shouted: "You bite her, bite her. They kill people. So go on, bite a Muslim."

The Polish national, who denies being a racist, was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Manchester Crown Court .

Prosecuting, Christopher Beckwith told the court Bakhtshireen Rehman was bitten by the dog on Stockport Road in Longsight on his way home from a mosque at around 10am on June 25.

The court heard Mr Rehman saw Wendland at a bus stop holding a bottle of beer with the dog on a lead.

Wendland asked Mr Rehman if he would open the bottle for him. When he refused, Wendland became aggressive and called the victim a 'Muslim Kurdi'.

Mr Rehman, 26, who is Pakistani British, tried to walk away, but Wendland set the animal on him. He was bitten several times before being punched by Wendland.

Mr Rehman ran into the road and flagged down a motorist for help as he desperately tried to fight the dog off.

Wendland ran off and got on a bus into Manchester city centre , where he targeted his next victim two hours later.
Sundus Mirza, 28, was on her way to work on Market Street at around 12.50pm. The court heard Ms Mirza, who has a fear of dogs, decided to give Wendland and his pet a 'wide berth'.

Wendland followed Ms Mirza, who said she could feel the dog's head near her legs. Wendland said to his dog: "Go on, bite her, bite her. They kill people, bite her."

Ms Mirza started screaming before passers-by rushed to help her. Wendland then walked away.

He repeatedly punched the mother in the face and body, and socked her daughter, 37, in the face, repeatedly pulling her hair, sources said.

The suspect was arrested at the scene and charged with assault as a hate crime.

The incident happened 2 p.m. Wednesday at the 67th Ave. subway station on the R line in Rego Park.

The women were leaving the station, heading up the stairs, when the suspect, who had been drinking, came up behind them, sources said.

The mother waived the suspect past, at which point he allegedly derided her as a "dirty Muslim."

The daughter jumped in and got into an argument with the suspect, then the suspect attacked them, sources said.

Zias has one previous arrest. In September 2015, he was busted for using his cellphone camera to take a picture under a woman's skirt at the Uniqlo clothing store in Midtown.

He pleaded guilty to felony unlawful surveillance and was sentenced to five years' probation, authorities said.

In an unrelated bias crime, a Muslim vendor in Bushwick was punched in the back of the head and cursed at when he told three Hispanic men he didn't have change for a $20.

It happened at about 8:25 a.m. Wednesday morning at Stockholm St. and Wyckoff Ave., where the victim was tending to his food cart.
"Motherf----r, you Muslim," the suspects said. "Go back to your country."

The 53-year-old victim did not require any medical treatment.

He told police he didn't want the men arrested, but the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is still investigating.

Muslim woman is forced to uncover her face by armed Austrian police after country's burka ban comes into force

Pictures show three officers flanking the young woman while she removes the outlawed item of clothing in the village of Zell am See

By Lucy Clarke-Billings - 1 OCT 2017

A Muslim woman was forced to remove her niqab by Austrian police as a new law banning the full-face veil came into force across the country.

Shocking pictures show armed police officers flanking the young woman while she removes the illegal item of clothing in the village of Zell am See.

Anything which conceals the face in public places such as the full Islamic veil, medical masks and scarves have been outlawed in the country.

Only under certain conditions - such as "at cultural events" - will people be able to wear them out and about.

The new law, which came into force today, states that faces must be visible from hairline to chin in public places and includes off-slope ski masks and surgical masks outside of hospitals.
Austrian police are allowed to use force to make people show their face and can impose fines of €150 (£132).

Austria's ban comes after France and Belgium introduced similar laws in 2011. The Dutch parliament also debating a similar ban.

Muslim groups have condemned the law saying only tiny minority of women in the country wear full-face veils.

Carla Amina Bhagajati of the Islamic Religious Community in Austria said the "handful" of fully veiled women she knows of in Vienna "now are criminalised" and "restricted to their homes".

The legislation was brought in by the outgoing centrist government of Chancellor Christian Kern.

A pregnant Muslim woman was filmed as she was forced from a Southwest Airlines plane last week by police.

Anila Daulatzai, a professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art, said she was the victim of sexism and racial profiling.

Officials say she was removed from the Washington to Los Angeles flight because she had said she had a life-threatening allergy to a pair of dogs that were traveling in the plane’s cabin.

Ms Daulatzai’s lawyers have denied this and instead claimed she was “profiled, abused, interrogated, detained, and subjected to false reporting and the trauma of racist, vitriolic public shaming precisely because she is a woman, a person of color, and a Muslim.”

They added: “She survived sexism, racial profiling, and police brutality that fateful day. Her mistreatment was particularly distressing because she is presently pregnant with her first child.”

In the video other passengers can be heard telling her to get off the plane and to stop resisting the police.

But Daulatzai was taken into custody and charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and other misdemeanour offenses.

Legal professor accuses judge of using law as pretext for 'racism and sexism'

by Lizzie Dearden - 19 July 2017

A German judge has banned a Syrian woman from appearing in court without removing her headscarf, claiming “religiously-motivated” attire is prohibited.

Najat Abokal, a lawyer representing the woman, said the order was made for divorce proceedings in the district court in Luckenwalde, Brandenberg.

She said the letter warned of legal action against the woman if she does not comply, but also ordered her to appear in person to present her case against her husband.

Ms Abokal has accused the judge of acting “unconstitutionally”, the Tagesspiegel newspaper reported, saying she would contest the order amid fierce debate over Islamic dress in Germany.

One of her colleagues confirmed the information to The Independent but said no further comment could be given while the case continued.

A spokesperson for the district court in Luckenwalde said they could not comment, saying the judge was responsible for conduct within the courtroom.

The German parliament hasvotedin favour of a partial ban on the burqa and other Islamic veils that cover the face, while existing “neutrality” laws can be used to forbid the wearing of any religious or political symbols by some judicial officials.

But the restrictions do not apply to witnesses, claimants, victims or any other participants in legal proceedings, while a 2006 ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court found a judge had no right to throw out a spectator for wearing a headscarf..
Klaus F Gärditz, an law professor at Bonn's Friedrich-Wilhelms University, described the letter as an attempt to “humiliate” the woman that violates freedom of religion.
He accused the judge of “pursuing provincial racism and sexism under the pretext of following legal procedures”, noting that only women were affected by such orders in an article for the Legal Tribune Online.

The case comes amid intense debate over Islamic veils in Germany, where a law to partially ban the burqa – but not the hijab (headscarf) - has not yet come into force.

Angela Merkel announced her support for the move in December, saying full-face veils were “not acceptable in Germany” and calling them to be banned “wherever it is legally possible”.

Some right-wing politicians have called for a full ban on the burqa in public, which has been imposed in France and Belgium, but ministers have said a blanked prohibition would violate the country’s constitution.

Concerns about integration have also risen following the arrival of more than a million asylum seekers, who are mainly from Syria and other countries in the Middle East.

A poll carried last year showed that 81 per cent of Germans supported a ban on the burqa within public institutions.

Dutch MPs voted for a similar prohibition in the Netherlands last year, covering public transport, education, healthcare and government buildings and punishing any infractions with fines.

Support for bans on full-face veils has been growing across Europe since France became the first country to implement such a law in 2011, followed by countries including Belgium and Bulgaria, with partial bans being imposed in Austria and parts of Spain, Italy and Switzerland.

Attempts to ban female employees from wearing headscarves and veils have sparked several legal cases, which have so far seen the European Court of Human Rights and European Court of Justice support national prohibitions.

In the UK, an estate agent is suing her former employer at a tribunal after she was allegedly told to remove her black hijab because it had “terrorist affiliations”.

How a Niqabi Muslimah Dealt with Islamophobia at Dental Clinic Appointment

10/10/2017

I'm proud of my wife for challenging the dentist and taking the complaint to the General Dental Council. Just look at this letter of apology from the Practice Manager and the Dental nurse.

I came home from work a while back and my 7 yr old daughter ran up to me 'babaa, ask mamaa what happened at the dentist today'. My wife was still worked up after the incident but she told me the whole story. She took our two daughters aged 3 and 7 for a check up and as soon as she entered the room the lady dentist asked her to take off her niqab. "Why do ask" my wife said. "To identify you" she replied. "Against what are you going to identify me exactly?" my wife said. A heated conversation then took place in full view of my kids wherein the lady tried to justify, based on some fairytale "policy and procedures" guidlines, that it was perfectly fine to ask someone to remove their niqab. (The check up wasn't even for her, it was for the girls).

"Listen, I'm also a health professional. I'm a pharmacist and have been so for many years. Show me in your Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) where it says this". The lady wasn't expecting that! So my wife refused to have the check up, took the girls into the waiting room and asked for the practice manager. When she came out and she too tried to justify her colleagues request. My wife told her "why should a Muslim woman have to change her dress code to access this heath service?" and again she demanded to see the documentation where it stated that policy. The manager walked off and spent a good long while talking to the dentist. I wonder what they were saying? Trying to figure out what to do next I suppose. They kept her waiting almost 15 mins. Finally she came out to apologise for the 'misunderstanding', but my wife said it wasn't sincere and more of a ploy to get rid of us. So she asked for the dentists name and registration number as she was going to complain to the General Dental Counsel. Suddenly the practice manager wanted to be her best friend and couldn't stop apologising...one stern letter to the counsel and these are the responses we recieved, one from the Practice Manager and another from the dentist.

I'm so proud of her and I really hope that my two girls are inspired by the experience to stand up in life for what they believe. No doubt the kind of Islamophobia they will face will be far worse and they will need be confident and strong. Lastly, sisters get it bad nowadays but they can't let people walkover them. Our faith, strength and success all comes from Allah, the All Mighty. May Allah increase us in them.

Asim Khan
My wife would like to give a message to some of the sisters who left comments:
Oh subhanallah so may messages ladies! To be honest I wasn't very happy when my husband put it up simply because I didn't want to be in the spotlight or anything and secondly it makes me think my reasons for reacting the way I did when the incident happened.. Was it because I felt she was somehow insulting a symbol of Islam or was it because who was she to tell me what to do.. Two very different reasons. Because Rumaysa and aasiya were with me I didn't want them to feel in anyway that the Islamic dress code (whether niqab or not) is a problem in anyway and to be honest that's probably one main reason I took this further than I would have. Also it made me think how dumb they might think us covered sisters are, who can easily be made to do anything when they use a bit of jargon or sophisticated terms and we easily comply because we don't want any trouble. If we ourselves suffer from the inferiority complex then we have no one to blame for the way they treat us except for our own selves

Asma Begum:
Omg I had the same issues at the very same dentist. Was it the female dentist? She told me she wont treat my daughter if I didn't remove my veil. I argued the he'll with her and then i complained to the ombudsmans about her and she had to apologise. They were upset it happened and confused y she would behave like that. I explained to them the dentist does not need to c my face to treat my girl. Which they agreed to. They made her apolose to me.

Basha Hussain:
I was just thinking imagine how many others they've forced to remove their niqaab and got away with it and will probably still do going forward.

Asim Khan:
The sad thing is that yes it’s Mänor park where many women wear niqab. However it seems like many or all of them never ever challenged the request and just complied

Asim Khan:
The lady told my wife she was a dentist. After she complained the practice manager told her the lady is a dental nurse.

Repi Begum:
What's worse is that both the dentist and mrs Parekh are of Indian descent it would seem

Majid Freeman:
MashaAllah. We need more people to hold those who discriminate to account and put them in their place

NC man pleads guilty to ripping hijab off Muslim woman’s head during flight

May 13, 2016

A North Carolina man pleaded guilty Friday in the U.S. District Court in New Mexico to ripping off a Muslim woman’s headscarf on a flight from Chicago to Albuquerque, New Mexico in December 2015.
Gill Parker Payne, 37, of Gastonia, pleaded guilty to one count of using force or threat of force to intentionally obstruct a Muslim woman in the free exercise of her religious beliefs.

According to court documents, the incident occurred on Dec. 11, 2015, when Payne and the woman, identified only as K.A., were on board a Southwest Airlines flight. K.A. was wearing her religious headscarf, known as a hijab.

Court records show that Payne was seated several rows behind K.A. on the airplane, and did not know her. Payne admitted to authorities that he saw that K.A. was wearing a hijab and was aware that it is a religious practice of Muslim women to wear a headscarf.

Payne also admitted that just before landing, but while still in-flight, he walked up the aisle to where K.A. was sitting and stopped next to her seat. Payne then told the woman to take off her hijab, stating something to the effect of, “Take it off! This is America!” Payne then grabbed the back of the hijab and pulled it all the way off, leaving the woman’s entire head exposed.

Court documents show that the woman said she felt violated and quickly pulled the hijab back up and covered her head again.

No matter one’s faith, all Americans are entitled to peacefully exercise their religious beliefs free from discrimination and violence. Using or threatening force against individuals because of their religion is an affront to the fundamental values of this nation, and the Civil Rights Division will continue to be vigilant in protecting the religious liberties guaranteed to all Americans.”

A grand jury charged Darwin Martinez-Torres with the murder and rape of Nabra Hassanen.

By Antonia Blumberg - 10/22/2017

A man accused of killing 17-year-old Nabra Hassanen in Sterling, Virginia in June may face the death penalty after a grand jury charged him with capital murder and rape on Monday.

The Fairfax County Circuit Court indicted Darwin Martinez-Torres, 22, on eight charges, including four counts of capital murder in the killing of the Muslim teen, who was walking back to the local mosque with a group of friends when she was abducted.

The four counts of capital murder illustrated in “graphic detail the ways in which prosecutors believe the slaying qualifies for the death penalty,”the Associated Press reported.

Monday’s indictment was the first time prosecutors officially brought charges of a sexual crime against Martinez-Torres. Under Virginia law, prosecutors can pursue the death penalty for certain charges, including murder during the commission of rape and object sexual penetration, which are among the four counts.

Police reported that Hassanen and a group of roughly a dozen other teens had just eaten a pre-dawn meal in observance of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan on June 18. They were returning to the All Dulles Area Muslim Society at about 3:40 a.m. when Martinez-Torres drove by the group. He reportedly got into an altercation with one of the teens and drove his car over a curb to chase them.

Fairfax County police said Martinez-Torres then got out of his car and chased the teens with a baseball bat. He reportedly caught up with Hassanen and hit her with the bat, then loaded her into his car.

A search warrant affidavit said Martinez-Torres admitted to killing the teen and led police to where he had dumped her body in a pond close to his Sterling apartment complex, according to AP.

A preliminary hearing on Friday was delayed when Mahmoud Hassanen, the teen’s father, yelled, “You killed my daughter!” and charged at Martinez-Torres, the Washington Post reported. Hassanen’s mother, Sawsan Gazzar, threw a shoe at the suspect.

An online petition urging that the slaying be investigated as a hate crime has garnered over 55,000 signatures.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group, is representing Hassanen’s family.

The family “is focused on ensuring that there is justice for Nabra and that the murderer is held accountable for his crimes,” CAIR lawyer Gadeir Abbas told AP. “This tragedy has affected the family, but also the Muslim community across the country, coming as it did during Ramadan when the kids were gathering at the mosque to socialize and for prayer.”

Man charged with attempted murder and with attempted GBH for separate incident in which car was driven at 12-year-old

by Vikram Dodd - 27 October 2017

A Muslim woman who suffered serious injuries after being struck by a car was the alleged victim of a hate crime, the Guardian has learned.
The woman, Zaynab Hussein, 47, is still in hospital more than five weeks after the attack. Police allege the car driver intended to kill her, and also struck a child in the area.

It is one of the worst crimes in the recent upsurge of attacks suffered by Britain’s Muslim and ethnic minority communities.

The incident happened in Leicester on Wednesday, 20 September as Hussein returned from taking her children to school.

A man has been charged with attempted murder over the incident and with attempted grievous bodily harm for an incident where a car was driven that same morning at a 12-year-old girl. The child was struck by the car but police say she did not suffer any visible injuries.

Police say both incidents are being treated as hate crimes and as deliberate acts.

Diis Barre, Hussein’s husband, praised paramedics and medical staff for saving his wife’s life but said: “Why would anybody attack my innocent wife who was going about her daily business?”
Hussein suffered broken limbs, extensive cuts and has required skin grafts. The attack happened in the Beaumont Leys area of Leicester.

Leicestershire police and the Crown Prosecution Service say they are treating both incidents as hate crimes on religious and racial grounds. They are being linked and were allegedly deliberate.

It is the second alleged vehicle attack directed against Muslims this year in Britain. In June a man was killed after a man drove a van into worshippers near to the Finsbury Park mosque in north London.

In that case the Metropolitan police classed it as a terrorist incident. A man has been charged with murder over the Finsbury Park attack.

The attack has shocked local communities in Leicester. Dr Shazad Amin, of Mend, a Muslim campaigning group, said: “The whole community is shocked by this senseless, unprovoked attack. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and we hope she makes a full recovery”.

A Leicester man faces criminal charges over the attacks. He was detained shortly after them and charged the next day. He can not be named for legal reasons.

Leicestershire police declined further comment on the basis that strict contempt of court rules apply which limit the details they can release.

In a statement announcing the charges, Leicestershire police said: “A man has been charged following two road traffic collisions yesterday in Leicester.

“[The suspect] has been charged with attempted murder, attempted grievous bodily harm with intent, dangerous driving and driving with alcohol above the limit.”

“The attempted murder charge relates to an incident yesterday [Wednesday, 20 September] when a vehicle collided with a pedestrian, a woman in her forties, on Acer Close at the junction with Butterwick Drive. She remains in hospital in a serious condition.

“The GBH charge relates to a separate collision which happened in Butterwick Drive when a vehicle collided with a pedestrian, a 12-year-old girl. She didn’t receive any visible injuries.”

The suspect is due to next appear at Leicester crown court on 10 November.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called for a criminal investigation and the firing of a teacher at a Tennessee charter school after a video was circulated online of a Muslim student having her Islamic head scarf, or hijab, forcibly removed in a classroom.

CAIR says the Snapchat video, reportedly recorded inside a classroom at the New Vision Academy Charter School in Nashville and allegedly shared by the teacher, shows the Muslim student hiding her face while someone removed the hijab and exposed her hair to the class. Classmates can be seen playing with the girl's hair as she tries to keep it covered. The teacher has been suspended by the school.

"The video depicts a criminal assault, evidently motivated by the religious identity of the student, which makes this a possible hate crime," said CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas. "We call on local law enforcement authorities to investigate this incident, determine who removed the student's hijab, and take appropriate action to hold that person accountable."

The Washington-based Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization is also calling for diversity training for all school staff using CAIR's "An Educator's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices," which is designed to help school officials provide a positive learning environment for Muslim students.

Teacher suspended after video posted of hijab being taken off student's head

Nov 08, 2017
Video circulated on social media this week showing a student wearing a hijab and hiding her face while someone removed the religious head scarf, exposing her hair to the class.

Other students can be seen playing with the girl’s hair as she tries to readjust it.

That video was posted on the social media app Snapchat with the caption, "pretty hair." It was recorded inside a classroom at the New Vision Academy Charter School in Nashville. A second video was then recorded under the caption, "lol all that hair cover up."

A concerned viewer sent the recording to News 4 after seeing it on social media, reportedly posted from the teacher's social media account.

The viewer told News 4 they were upset that the girl was seemingly being told her hair was too pretty to be covered under a hijab.

News 4 showed the recording to Kasar Abdulla, who offers Muslim diversity and sensitivity training in local schools. She shook her head while watching it.

"As a female, and as a mother of three daughters, it should never be okay to rip off an article of clothing off of a female, period," said Abdulla, who is the chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer for Valor Collegiate Academies.

Abdulla said she was discouraged to see that the incident happened in a school, but not completely shocked.

"I highly encourage those faculty members in that particular school to take a crash course on why the hijab is so important to some of my students, and why my students cover up. It's a symbol of who you are, and it's a symbol of your faith, and it's a symbol of your identity. So, it needs to be accepted and recognized," Abdulla told News 4.

New 4 went to the school Tuesday afternoon and met with its principal, Dr. Tim Malone. He did not want to go on camera, but quickly began investigating.
Originally, he said the teacher denied making a video and said exposing the girl's hair was not done out of disrespect.

By Tuesday evening, the student's family was involved. The student's mother and sister were outraged after being shown the video and told News 4, "This should never happen."

"I understand peer-to-peer, student-to-student interactions, but as adults it is our duty to model for them," Abdulla said. "It concerns me. I question, where was the teacher in this incident, and what role did the teacher play? I would like to know some answers from the administration."

New Vision Academy told News 4 on Wednesday that the teacher has been suspended without pay.

Muslim Students Are Getting Their Hijabs Pulled Off by Teachers in Classrooms Across the Nation

November 16, 2017

A Virginia school district has placed a teacher on leave for removing a student’s hijab from her head. The student took to Twitter after the incident Wednesday saying that her hijab was “ripped off her head” by a teacher she appreciated and valued, according to WJLA.

An account that appears to belong to the student said she was talking with her friend when the teacher pulled off her hijab from behind. To her shock, he then said: “Oh, your hair is so pretty,” she said on Twitter.

The Fairfax County Public School district released a statement calling the incident “inappropriate and unacceptable.” “FCPS takes this incident seriously and, while a thorough investigation of the incident is conducted, the teacher has been placed on leave,” the district said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations confirmed the Twitter statements from the student. “We welcome the decision to place the teacher on leave and to apologize to the student and her family, but further disciplinary action needs to be taken based on the results of the investigation into this disturbing incident," Nihad Awad, CAIR national executive director, said. "No student should be bullied or attacked because of his or her faith. Teachers must protect students, not subject them to harassment or intimidation,”

School districts have reported hijab pulling at schools across the nation from teachers and students in recent months. CAIR also called for the removal of a teacher from a Nashville, Tennessee, charter school last week. A teacher from the school uploaded a video to social media showing a student at the New Vision Academy Charter School having her hijab removed to show students. In the video, the girl is seen trying to cover up her hair as someone tries to pull off her hijab and play with her hair. A Snapchat video of the incident showed students touching the student’s hair with the caption “pretty hair.”

The teacher was later suspended without pay last week.

“New Vision will use this video as an opportunity to press forward with increasing cultural sensitivity and awareness among all members of the New Vision community,” Tim Malone, executive director of the school, said in a statement to WSMV.

In May, a Bronx substitute teacher in New York City ripped off a second-grade student’s hijab because the student was allegedly misbehaving. The teacher was later charged with a hate crime.

Police are investigating a report that a man shouted at a Muslim woman and pulled off her veil Monday at Walmart, 2300 Sycamore Road, according to a news release from a civil rights group.

The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is calling for law enforcement to treat the incident as a hate crime.

The release says the woman, who is an American citizen, tried taking a picture of the man after he yelled at her about 12:30 p.m. Monday, telling her Americans don’t want her here, and that he walked toward her, screaming, and pulled her clothing hard enough that it hurt her neck and back.

DeKalb Police Cmdr. Steve Lekkas said police are investigating the incident, and will consult the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office to find out what charges could be filed once the investigation wraps up. No arrests have been made yet, Lekkas said.

A Facebook post by a woman named Sarah Denny says the alleged victim is her sister, and that the man was unprovoked. The post has been shared nearly 300 times.

The CAIR release says recent hate crime statistics from the FBI show nearly a quarter of victims of anti-religious hate crimes in 2016 were Muslim, and that the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes were up 20 percent last year.

The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, today called on state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate an alleged bias-motivated assault on an Illinois Muslim woman as a hate crime.

According to the woman, who is an American of European heritage who wears Islamic attire (niqab), a man approached her yesterday while she was shopping at a Dekalb, Ill., Walmart and began shouting that Muslims are not welcome in this country and that "Americans" do not want her here.

The woman reportedly responded that she is American and began trying to take a photo of the man with her phone to show to police, when the alleged attacker walked toward her screaming and then pulled her clothing hard enough that it impacted her entire body, resulting in neck and back pain. Dekalb police are investigating the incident.
"The empowerment of hatred and bigotry in our nation has unfortunately reached the level that members of minority groups are being targeted as they go about their daily business," said CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab. "We urge local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate the apparent bias motive of the alleged attacker."

Rehab noted that his organization has witnessed an unprecedented spike in hate incidents targeting American Muslims and members of other minority groups since the election of Donald Trump as president.

Yesterday, CAIR's national office said new FBI hates crimes statistics -- which indicated that almost one-quarter of the victims of anti-religious hate crimes in 2016 were Muslim - shows the need for all Americans to stand up to increasing bigotry nationwide. Anti-Muslim hate crimes rose by nearly 20 percent, anti-white by 17 percent, anti-Latino by 15 percent, and anti-Jewish by 3 percent.

Hijabs: University's Last Taboo? Muslim Students On Stereotyping And Discrimination

10/07/2014

University has long had a reputation for being a diverse and tolerant environment, but when it comes to religious wear, and particularly the hijab, stereotyping and stigma are still prevalent on campus.

The Huffington Post UK spoke to Muslim students across the country, and it is clear they don’t experience the same tolerance for their religious dress everyone else enjoys for their clothing choices.

As one 20-year-old sociology student at Bristol University explained, wearing the hijab made her stick out. "People do get cautious when they approach me for the first time," she said.

Several of the students said they experience discrimination due to wearing the hijab, as some of their peers automatically assume the head scarf is synonymous with extreme right-wing views. This results in those students feeling they have to prove they do not fit into the "stereotypical Muslim woman" category.

One student told HuffPost UK the need to constantly reaffirm their distance from such views "originates from people’s idea that our faith is unreasonable, violent or just plain different from the norm".

She added: "So the fact that I cover my head re-establishes their particular view about Islam and about me as a person."

Another student, Abi Jeylani, says her student union does not hand out leaflets advertising clubbing events or parties to anyone wearing the hijab, while international development student Nazia Carim, says students question her choice of subject.

"People initially assumed I would be homophobic, or not be tolerant to people questioning Islam," she told HuffPost UK. "I also get the feeling people wonder why I’m studying a course about development and human rights, which is so opposite to the stereotypical Muslim woman."

Carim describes being harassed with questions about her faith and her dress not only by her lecturer, but also by fellow Muslim students: "An Egyptian girl and I were debating inequality in Islam. The lecturer butted in and started challenging me about what I wear and why I need to dress so modestly.

"I was also questioned by other Muslims about why I wore the full-body hijab as neither the headscarf, nor the full-body hijab are compulsory, in their view."

However this discrimination is an issue of not just religion, but gender too; hijab stereotyping means female Muslims face more marginalising on campus than their male counterparts.

As Irham Ehsan, a 21-year-old media and communications student at Greenwich University, says: "Males have it so much easier.

"They don't have to deal with as much discrimination and when they do something silly, it isn't highlighted as much as it is with us hijab-wearing women."

As bad as the stereotyping is in the university environment, it is even worse in general public.

"I was once stopped in the middle of a supermarket by a middle-aged Caucasian woman blasting off her hatred to girls in hijabs," the sociology student studying at Bristol recalled. "She said I needed to take it off because I was oppressed.

"She asked: 'Why do you want to oppress all the other women in the UK? Don't you want to be free?'

"Those words were thrown to me just because I was wearing a hijab. The way she said it made it look like I was forced to wear one and I needed someone to "free" me from the whole oppressive issue.

"The whole incident was pretty disappointing."

Despite the discrimination faced by those who wear hijabs, one 20-year-old English Literature student says university students are far more tolerant than others outside the academic environment, and so they feel much safer.

"A growing number of students have interacted with Muslims before so there is less misunderstanding about us," she says. "I don’t worry about wearing the hijab on campus.

"But there are areas right outside of my university I wouldn't feel comfortable walking past."

Ehsan adds: "There is a huge difference between university and the outside world. I've faced a lot of discrimination, on the train, in public places - covert and blatant.

In the video, the woman, who is a British Muslim of Middle Eastern descent, asks the guard why she cannot come into the McDonald’s. He responds: “It’s just a matter of taking it off.”

“It’s not just a matter of taking it off. I wear this for religious reasons and I’m not ashamed of it, and I will stand in line and I will get the food I want, because this isn’t OK,” she replies.

A member of the public intervenes to tell the security guard he cannot ask the woman to remove her hijab, to which he responds: “It’s none of your business.”

When the woman says “this is fucking ridiculous”, a member of staff replies “don’t be rude” and tells her to stop filming. She refuses. She is then told she will be served but says: “I don’t want anything any more.”

The student told the Guardian: “I thought: ‘It’s finally happening to me,’ like it has to so many hijabis. It didn’t feel real because I had seen so many videos like this and it was finally happening to me in real life. I was in so much disbelief.

“The friend I was with was shocked and scared, and said it was a risky situation. When it was over, I finally realised how these situations can become dangerous. This is not a one-off thing.

“I will never walk into a McDonald’s again,” she added.

A spokeswoman for McDonald’s said the chain “does not have a policy in place which restricts or prevents anyone wearing a hijab, or any other religious dress, from entering” one of its restaurants.

She said: “We welcome customers of all faiths and would like to apologise to the customer as this situation should not have taken place. We are taking this matter extremely seriously and are addressing this with the individuals involved.”

Muslim Girl Attacked By Gang of White Girls
My daughter Manaal munshi (14 years - 9th grade student) was getting bullied by couple of school (West Boca High School, Boca Raton, FL) girls because she was Muslim. Today (DEC 21st) she decided to get this over and talk to girls but beaten badly by gang of girls. She didn’t picked up a hand because don’t want to fight back.

The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Florida), the state's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on Palm Beach County law enforcement agencies and the State Attorney's office to bring criminal charges against those responsible for yesterday's brutal group beating of a Boca Raton female Muslim teenager.

This comes after a Facebook video was posted by the parent of the battered teenager showing an gang-style beating by three females.

These kind of attacks will continue to occur against Muslims UNLESS the Muslims fight back and defend themselves. If you want to live in the west then teach yourself and your kids self-defense.

Look at the example of Malcolm X and the black Muslims, at that time, to learn a lesson. They used to fight back and defend themselves to the point that the white people were afraid to start anything with the black Muslims, where as Dr. Martin Luther Kind Jr's "non-violent" people were getting beaten and lynched on a regular basis.

Man[white christian terrorist] tried to run over Muslim woman and girl over Parsons Green station bomb attack

A man[white christian terrorist] tried to run over a Muslim woman and a 12-year-old schoolgirl as revenge for an “ISIS-inspired” bomb attack at Parsons Green tube station, a court heard.

Paul Moore, 21, is alleged to have attempted to kill Zaynab Hussein with his vehicle on 20 September 2017 as he admitted to the court that he was the driver.

The jury heard how Ms Hussein was hit once and subsequently driven over again straight after on Acer Close in Leicester just after 8am, while the defendant[the terrorist] allegedly laughed.

A jury of five women and seven men at Nottingham Crown Court were told on Wednesday that Moore allegedly tried to kill Ms Hussein “purely because of the colour of her skin” and her “perceived Islamic faith”.

The prosecution said four other passengers were in the car with Moore during the incident, and they persistently asked him to let them out of the vehicle afterwards.

The News & Star reports that prosecutor Jonathan Straw said to the courts: “(Moore) carefully and deliberately, in an act of calculated evil, aligned his wheels so the front and back wheels were over her (Ms Hussein).

“He did not know her. He tried to kill her purely because of the colour of her skin and because of her perceived Islamic faith as she was wearing a hijab.

“It is no coincidence, we say, that there had been a bomb at Parsons Green Tube station in London, said to have been carried out by sympathisers of Islamic State.

“She had received severe fractures to her pelvis, her spine, and one of the bones in her leg was broken.

“Having deliberately, we say, tried to kill Zaynab Hussein, the defendant then drove at a second victim – a 12-year-old schoolgirl.

“He did not hit her, he brushed her, but it is only by the grace of God and nothing more that she was saved.”

Mr Straw said that Moore did not intend on offering a defence, adding: “It may well be he has no defence. He admits he was the driver.”

In a recorded interview played to the court, Reece Bishop, who was a passenger in the car during the incident, told police: “He was just driving like a maniac.

“I thought we were going to be dead. He said ‘I feel like running someone over. Anyone.’

“It all happened so fast. He turned the steering wheel and he just hits her out of the blue.”

On the recorded interview with police, Mr Bishop said Moore was laughing as he drove directly at Ms Hussein.

And neither should anyone else who decides to dress in a way that is subjectively unnerving to another person. The ridiculous subjugation of the veil as a cloth of oppression and regression truly highlights that Muslim women are not taken seriously in contemporary society. They are recognised with their veil as a commodity to men and their desires, not as independent and educated women. Boiling down the intellectual and spiritual thought process of wearing a niqab to oppression by men is wrong, and misleading. Those who hold this view are merely fuelled by the anger that a woman can use her freedom to cover her face. When a veiled woman decides to cover her face; something out of the ordinary in Britain, she is exercising her right of autonomy. It is simply because the actual act of covering ones face with a veil is so scarce within the Muslim community that she is cast with accusations of isolating herself within society.

I was taught in my early stages of Islamic Madrassah in respect to security measures and proving ones identity, it is permissible to remove ones veil. Muslim Council of Britain reiterates this in respect to a judge who allowed women to wear a veil in court, but remove it when giving evidence; "emphasise the need to be practical when there is an essential need to show ones face - for example, for reasons of security."

A few of my friends and colleagues wear niqab, and although I do not wear it, removing my ability to wear it, renders me oppressed (rather ironically) simply because I do not have the autonomy to make a decision or non-decision. I simply cannot remember one time in my life where I have been attended to in hospital by a woman wearing a veil, neither in a police station, nor in any public sphere for that matter. What we're discussing in great depth in the media is a minute issue that affects neither the stability of our government or puts any harmful or distressing pressure of a great deal on the public, so perhaps we should consider issues of actual importance. Please let us remember that it is an extremely small minority of Muslim women who wear the veil, discussion on this is a waste of time, money, and effort on part of our politicians and members of the public.

Women who wear a niqab are surrendering themselves to their belief and their religion, wearing the veil for Allah, and no other being. People have to understand that having such a high belief and understanding of Islam renders this world material and only as a means to a far greater existence in the afterlife. Women, who wear the veil, do so only to be closer to God and to please Him, only. One has to understand that the small sacrifice to wear a veil is intrinsic to their relationship with God, something which one cannot understand, if you aren't in the same position. These women, after a long process of thought, have decided to wear a veil. It is not simply a forceful act of oppression cast by a patriarchal Islamic society.

Often we think of Muslim women who wear a veil as uncivilised. The fact is that we have veiled women studying in institutions of academic excellence, top universities of not only Britain, but the world. They are working towards the common good of challenging misconceptions of Muslim women on the whole, and bettering themselves for God, as Islam emphasises the path of education. As a Muslim woman in Britain, I cannot emphasise the deal of anger and frustration I feel when ignorant people boil down my choice to wear a hijaab (and if I wanted to, niqab) as shaping the orders of tyrannical men.

Regardless of whether you think niqab should be banned in society wholeheartedly, or removed from public spheres because it makes you feel uncomfortable and in a compromised condition, banning the niqab for the small minority of women, challenges the very foundations of female autonomy in large. Surely if this trend of challenging the autonomy of Muslim women continues, the consequences shown in protest and uproar will be far greater an issue than the unnecessary media attention on the niqab, in the first place. Laurie Penny of the New Statesman, raised a very good point on BBC's Question Time last week - does it really matter whether we feel uncomfortable? The point I am making is that Muslim veiled women truly do not care if you feel uncomfortable by their peaceful and safe method of worship, compromising their ability to wear it in public spheres has a greater affect on women's freedom on the whole, than it does for just the minute group that they are.